Baseball America has released its latest transaction post, covering the period of April 6-9. In-season, this is mostly a fail-safe for my daily visit to each league’s transaction page (let’s just say I’ve memorized the three-digit codes in the URL include, okay?) and I consider it a good week when I’ve already reported on every move. But as some of you may have seen on Twitter, MiLB.com isn’t always timely when it comes to roster moves and often skips releases and signings. It’s even worse in the offseason.

Without further ado…RE-SIGNED
OF Tony Nix — 50th Round Pick in 2011 Draft who had his contract voided for undisclosed reasons.Click here to see his page on the DC is For Baseball’s 2011 Nats Draft Info blog.

The IronPigs scored in each of the first four innings off starter Tanner Roark, building a 6-2 lead. The Chiefs rallied for three in the 6th to pull within one at 6-5 but double plays in the 7th and 8th innings killed any chance of a comeback. Tyler Moore homered with one out in the 9th to answer Lehigh Valley’s big fly in the 8th, but Bryce Harper, who had tripled earlier in the contest, grounded out and Jhonatan Solano struck out to end the game. Corey Brown led the 13-hit attack with a 4-for-5 night, including a double, a stolen base, and a run scored.

A pair of four-run rallies in the fifth and seventh innings pushed the Senators past the Rock Cats for an 8-2 victory and a 2-1 series win. For the second time in as many starts, Paul Demny struggled with his control and couldn’t go the requisite five innings for the “W.” The 22-year-old walked five of the 23 batters he faced and struck just one over 4&#8532l innings. Erik Davis followed him again but pitched much better: 3⅓ scoreless innings to earn his second win. After a 1-for-23 start in the first six games, Destin Hood drove in four runs and collected two extra-base hits (double, triple). Jeff Kobernus extended his season-opening hit streak to seven games while Eury Perez went 0-for-4 to stop his streak at six. Harrisburg opens its home schedule with a four-game set tonight against the Reading Phillies, followed by a three-game series against the Altoona Curve.

With six free passes over the first two innings, the P-Nats took advantage to score all six runs as they doubled up the Pelicans, 6-3 for their second win of the 2012 campaign. Myrtle Beach walked 11 batters overall, including four in the first inning without an out by Wilmer Font (guess the strike zone wasn’t his type?). David Freitas paced the offense with a 3-for-4 night, scoring twice and driving in a run, followed by Justin Bloxom with a 2-for-4, 2RBI effort. Matt Swynenberg got the win with three runs allowed on five hits and two walks over five innings while Trevor Holder and Ryan Demmin both turned in two scoreless frames to close out the game.

Brian Dupra pitched six solid innings, scattering five hits and allowing just two runs (on earned), which would be good enough to win most of the time. But Lexington’s hurlers, led by Mike Foltynewicz, were just a little better, limiting the Suns to a season-low four hits — all singles — to hand Hagerstown a 3-0 shutout loss. The Legends scored single runs in the 4th, 6th, and 8th and left on six runners, while the Suns were unable to push any of their nine baserunners past third base. The Suns finish their homestand at 5-2 and head north to visit the Lakewood Blueclaws for a four-game series.

After six innings, it looked rather bleak: Down 2-0, outhit 7-1. But Harrisburg racked up 11 hits and dialed up Dallas (214) over the last three innings to run away with a 7-2 win over New Britain. H/T to Geoff Morrow for pointing out Eury Perez, along with Jeff Kobernus, also has hit safely in every game. Combined the 1-2 batters in the Sens lineup are .411 (23-for-56) with 10 runs scored, six bases stolen, and eight RBI. Both are riding six-game hit streaks. Rob Gilliam got the win with seven strong innings, both Rock Cat runs allowed on seven hits (one HR) and no walks while striking out five. The Pats McCoy and Lehman finished out the game with two 1-2-3 innings.

Michael Taylor’s bases-clearing double in the top of the 2nd capped off a four-run rally as Potomac finally got a win, 6-4 over Myrtle Beach. Matt Grace got the win with five innings pitched, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks. He struck out two and allowed a solo HR. Cameron Selik pitched a three-up, three-down 9th for the save. Following the game, the P-Nats formally announced that 3B Anthony Rendon has been placed on the DL, replaced by minor-league FA Brent Greer, a native of Manassas, VA, who had been released at the end of spring training by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Pitching and defense took a back seat to slugging as the Suns debunked the Legends, 16-8. Jason Martinson would not settle for a single, doubling once and homering twice, including a grand slam in the 2nd inning that turned an early 3-2 Lexington lead into a 6-3 Hagerstown advantage. Martinson drove in six runs altogether. Wirkin “For the Weekend” Estevez got the rulebook win with five innings pitched, four runs allowed on five hits and three walks, though he did strike out seven. The 20-year-old has an ERA of 10.00 with just three scoreless innings out of nine thus far. Rehabbing Rick Ankiel was a mere 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI. OF Brian Goodwin has been placed on the DL with what’s being called an “upper leg injury” — groin, quadricep, or hamstring was not specified; Bill Belichek would be proud. OF Angel Montilla was also placed on the DL. Replacing Goodwin and Montilla on the Suns roster are OFs Narciso Mesa and Billy Burns. Both are on ourwatchlist. UPDATE: Byron Kerr once again has the nitty-gritty, reporting that Montilla is out with a broken hamate bone in his left hand.

Tyler Moore drove in three runs, including a two-run blast in the second, as the Chiefs built a 6-0 lead early and held on for a 6-5 win. Corey Brown drew two walks and tripled, while Carlos Rivero singled twice to lead the nine-hit attack. Zach Duke gave up just one run on a homer, and four hits total over six innings to earn the win. Three of the four Syracuse errors came in the Yankees’ three-run 7th inning, including one on CF Bryce Harper after colliding with Xavier Paul in RF, a ball that was Paul’s. Harper got some measure of redemption by throwing out Scranton backstop trying for two after driving in a run (who got on base by doubling over Harper’s head) in the 9th inning. Ryan Perry was credited with the save, but the reliever of the night was Josh Wilkie, who stranded two runners with one out in the 8th for his first hold of the season.

A three-run shot with two out in the 3rd capped a four-run rally as the Rock Cats cruised to 6-3 win over Harrisburg. The Senators were a respectable 4-for-11 with RISP, stranding eight runners, but the turning point came in the 5th when they loaded the bases with three straight singles with nobody out and only came away with one run as New Britain got a comebacker to the mound for one out and double play after Tim Pahuta singled in the lone run. Mike Ballard took the loss with all six Rock Cats runs allowed on 10 hits and a walk. The loss snapped a three-game win streak for Harrisburg, but Jeff Kobernus’s first-inning double extended his hit streak to five games.

Potomac — OFF DAY
For whatever reason, the Potomac Nationals and slow starts seem to be synonymous. It’s 0-3 so far in ’12, 2-6 in both ’10 and ’11 and 2-4 in ’09. In years past, it’s been cold and rainy, but with temps in the 60s and sunshine expected for the long-range forecast, the weather (e.g. cold or rain) can’t be blamed… Anthony Rendon has not been officially placed on the DL just yet, as multiple online reports are stating that team officials are waiting for the swelling to subside in order to further evaluate the extent of the ligament damage. Thus far, the only “known” is that the ankle is not fractured.

A Matt Skole grand slam gave the Suns an early 4-1 lead, but a bullpen meltdown sent the game into extras, where Caleb Ramsey stroked a two-out walkoff single to give the Suns an 8-7 win in 11 innings. Two errors (including one my Michael Morse, who also failed to throw out the first Lexington run in the first on a flyout to medium left field) sandwiched around a single, double, and another single fueled the Lexington rally that tied the game at 7-7 in the 7th. Todd Simko put out the fire with a grounder and two strikeouts. Morse and Rick Ankiel were 4-for-7 combined with Ankiel connecting on a two-run homer and drawing two walks. Brian Goodwin left the game in the second inning after beating out an infield hit to the first baseman. Officially, it’s a leg injury, but unofficially it appeared to be the usual turned ankle that comes with hitting the bag awkwardly. Like Rendon, no word yet on the extent of (or timetable for the return from) the injury. UPDATE:Byron Kerr is reporting that it’s an upper leg injury, not the ankle or knee. I was was watching the game via MiLB.tv when the injury occurred but was unable to see what Kerr describes due to the stationary nature of the video (i.e. he limped out of camera range).

John Lannan did not make his case for being traded, instead getting pounded for five runs over two innings. Meanwhile, the Syracuse bats were held silent by the Yankees #16 prospect, D.J. Mitchell, and two veteran relievers. Mark Teahen’s fifth-inning single was the sole base hit for the Chiefs, who managed just six total baserunners. Erik Arnesen was solid in relief, throwing four scoreless innings, but Rafael Martin was not, giving up five hits and a walk over two-thirds of an inning as the Yankees doubled up their 5-0 lead to the eventual 10-0 final in the 7th. Bryce Harper’s defensive struggles continued with a fielding error and an offline throw that enabled a runner to move up.

Danny Rosenbaum turned in a quality start for his first win of the season, allowing just a run on four hits and no walks over six innings. Rehabbing Michael Morse drove in the first three Harrisburg runs on an RBI groundout and a two-run double while Eury Perez led the rest of the lineup with a single, triple, walk and a run scored. Jeff Kobernus had his mutlihit game streak snapped with a mere 1-for-3 effort and his 5th stolen base in four games. Pat Lehman notched his second save with a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out the last two batters he faced. Harrisburg heads up I-95 to visit the New Britain Rockcats for three games before returning to Metro Bank Park on Thursday for the home opener.

Make that three straight losses for Potomac, as the P-Nats could only muster six hits against the Hillcats in a 3-2 loss. Adam Olbrychowski took the loss, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks over five innings, including a two-run shot in the bottom of the first. Veteran backstop James Skelton paced the offense with a two-out, two-run single in the top of the 2nd and went 2-for-3 overall. Monday is an off day as the P-Nats head south to Myrtle Beach for three games before heading back to Woodbridge for the home opener on Friday night.

Kylin Turnbull didn’t fare so well in his pro debut, giving up three runs on five hits with no walks and just one strikeout, but a pair of three-run rallies gave him the no-decision as the Suns held off a late Power surge for an 8-6 victory and a 3-1 series win. Brian Goodwin connected for a three-run shot in the bottom of the third, taking the sting off his second error in four games. Jason Martinson stole third twice and second once to push his total to five steals in four games. Taylor Hill got the win in long relief, tiring in the 9th as West Virginia rallied for two runs before southpaw Christian Meza got the last two outs for his first save of 2012.

It’s been almost 10 days since our last transaction-oriented post and I was expecting to see more releases than this, even if I had been told that extended spring (XST) is quite sizable this year.

I’m no draft expert — longtime readers know that I don’t focus much on it because it’s not my area of enjoyment, much less expertise — but the theory that I’ve referenced in the comments is that XST is much larger this year because the draft is 40 rounds instead of 50. Therefore, I think we’re looking at a situation where guys that might have been released in previous years are being kept on for further evaluation and to ensure they have enough bodies to fill the rosters of Auburn and the GCL. Again, this is just a theory.

Anyway, here’s a breakdown of the moves reported by Baseball America this morning, appended with any reported on MiLB.com:

Please give our volunteer time to update the Big Board. As for questions on specific players, the working assumption has to be that if you don’t see them above, here or here, they’re in XST. Otherwise, I’ll be periodically checking the transaction pages for each league, and making posts like this on at least a weekly basis.

Yunesky Maya and Austin Bibens-Dirkx combined on a six-hit shutout while every Chief in the lineup got a hit, as the Chiefs won their first game, 4-0. Tyler Moore led the 11-hit effort with a 3-for-4 game, while Seth Bynum homered. Bryce Harper shifted to RF for the game, with Corey Brown manning CF.

The pain of losing a second straight game pales in comparison to the possibility of losing Anthony Rendon to a leg injury for an extended period of time. Multipleonlinereports are stating that it was his left leg (he has fractured his right ankle twice), but Nationals officials are mum on the severity. Rendon slipped after rounding third, attempting to score on a Justin Blxom single. He had doubled toe lead off the inning and was attempting to score with just one out. Sean Nicol filled in admirably, going 2-for-2 and driving in both Potomac runs. Bobby Hansen took the loss, giving up a pair of runs in the first two innings on five hits (one HR) and two walks.

Alex Meyer threw five shutout innings, allowing just two hits and no walks while fanning four to win his professional debut. Matt Skole and Jason Martinson combined for five of the Suns seven hits and each drove in a run. Hendry Jimenez made two costly errors in errors in the eighth, giving away the third Power run but also turned a double play to end the inning, helping Aaron Barrett notch his first save of the 2012 campaign.

For the first 25 innings of the 2012 season, Harrisburg had a hard time scoring without the help of a rehabbing Washington National. With an eight-run eighth, the Senators erased the doubt about their offense en route to a 13-3 pounding of the Bowie Baysox.

The genesis of the big inning was somewhat unexpected. Twice before the 8-9 batters had gone down meekly (three groundouts and a strikeout), so the natural presumption was that the Sens would be trying to win against the Bowie closer, particularly with 28-year-old veteran Pedro Viola on the mound.

Instead, Jeff Howell doubled, Josh Johnson tripled to get the tie, and Eury Perez served up an opposite-field single to take a 4-3 lead.

Jeff Kobernus followed with his second safety — that’s three straight multiple-hit games — and stole his fourth base before Jesus Valdez walked. Five batters faced, none retired for Viola.

Sean Gleason was brought in to face Destin Hood (pictured above), a familiar face for the Senator LF as Gleason was Frederick Keys closer for most of the 2011 campaign. He greeted him with a first-pitch, wall-ball double to left-center to break the game open and end an oh-for-the season (10 ABs) dry spell.

All told, 13 batters came up in the inning, seven of them hit safely (Perez singled twice) while the Baysox committed two errors.

Hector Nelo came on to pitch the 8th and was lights out, striking out two looking on 94-96 mph heaters — including Bowie’s star shortstop Manny Machado (4 putouts, 8 assists).

And then things got unnecessarily ugly in the top of the 9th. The first two batters were dismissed easily, but then Tim Pahuta ripped a double to right field. With first base open, Bowie’s Scott Wolf, a 29-year-old journeyman, apparently decided to pay back Chris Rahl with a fastball to the back. The 28-year-old Rahl had homered against Wolf on Thursday night. Pahuta, also 28, started barking at Wolf who came down off the mound to exchange words.

The benches and bullpens emptied but no punches were thrown and nobody was ejected. Harrisburg tacked on three more runs with a one-run Lozada single, a Howell walk, and a two-run single by Johnson before Perez grounded out to (you guessed it) Machado.

Like the top of the inning, Nelo retired the first two batters and got to a 2-0 count before sailing the third pitch about a foot over/behind former National farmhand Edgardo Baez’s noggin. Umpire Kiff Kinkead (really) wasted no time in sending Nelo and Harrisburg manager Matt LeCroy to the showers.

Marcos Frias couldn’t retire Baez (the walk charged to Nelo), and gave up a sharp single to left before striking out Bowie’s Travis Adair to end the game.

The eight-run rally made a winner out of Pat McCoy, who struck out two of the four batters he faced, and gave starter Jeff Mandel a no-decision. Mandel had not started a game since July 2010, but retired the first eight batters he faced and tossed five shutout innings before coughing up a three-run homer with two outs off the right-field pole.

Rick Ankiel went 2-for-2 in his rehab start, taking a hanging curve out in the first inning for a solo shot and hitting the right-field wall and trotting to first in the fourth.

With the win, Harrisburg improves to 2-1 on the season and finishes up the four-game set tomorrow afternoon. Danny Rosenbaum is slated to make his 2012 debut against Cole McCurry for Bowie.

The clutch hit eluded the Syracuse batters, as they stranded seven runners and hit into three double plays as the Chiefs dropped their second straight, 3-1. Tanner Roark turned in six strong innings in his AAA debut, allowing just a run on three hits and three walks. Corey Brown went 3-for-4 and scored the only run as he tripled and Seth Bynum doubled with two outs in the 8th. Bryce Harper went 0-for-3 in his first three ABs against LHP Scott Diamond before singling to lead off the 9th.

Rick Ankiel and Michael Morse both homered in a 5-2 win over the Baysox. Eury Perez and Jeff Kobernus both went 2-for-5 with a steal, but the clutch hit was few and far between as the Sens were just 2-for-12 with RISP. Paul Demny labored through four innings, throwing 84 pitches. Erik Davis got the win in relief but was touched for a two-run HR. For the second game in row, Chris Rahl got an RBI in the 9th, giving Pat Lehman plenty of cushion for his first save of the year.Lynchburg 9, Potomac 3
• Winters (L, 0-1) 5IP, 6H, 5R, 5ER, BB, 4K, 2HR
• Freitas 1-3, R, HR, 3RBI, SF
• Rendon 1-3, R, 3B, BB

A three-run 5th by the Hillcats, with three extra-base hits (double, homer, triple) busted open a 2-1 game as Lynchburg pounded Potomac, 9-3 in the season opener. David Freitas drove in all three P-Nat runs, hitting a sac fly in the 4th, an RBI groundout in the 7th, and a solo shot in the 9th. Anthony Rendon tripled and scored in his regular-season debut. Kyle Winters took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits (including two home runs) over five innings while walking one and striking out four.

Hagerstown had more errors than hits… or runs, losing to West Virginia, 5-3. The Suns actually led the game 3-0 early, scoring twice in the first and once in the second without a base hit or an error as the Power throwers walked five, hit a batter, and unleashed three wild pitches in the first two innings. The Suns would draw 10 walks overall (four by leadoff man Brian Goodwin), but with just two bases-empty singles in the 6th and 8th, Hagerstown would lay eight goose eggs on the scoreboard the rest of the way. Starter Brian Dupra got knocked from the box in the fourth as the Power scored three times to take a 4-3 lead. Todd Simko stranded two runners and gave way to Nathan Karns, who gave up a run over the last four innings but struck out six and walked none — the only pitcher to do so on either team.UPDATE: My man in Hagerstown wrote about the first inning in “A night with Nuke..Err Stetson Allie”

Bryce Harper did not disappoint in his AAA debut, singling, doubling, and stealing a base while playing error-free CF, but the Syracuse firemen were torched for six runs, including five runs in the 7th as the Chiefs fell to the Redwings, 7-4. Starter Mitch Atkins struggled with his control, but managed to give up just one unearned run over five innings despite issuing five free passes. The Chiefs plated all four runs in the 7th, aided by an error for the first run, an RBI single by Seth Bynum for the second tally, and a two-run double by Xavier Paul to finish the scoring.

Despite having both Michael Morse and Rick Ankiel in the lineup on rehab assignments, the Harrisburg Senators could only muster six hits and fell to the Bowie Baysox, 4-2. Jeff Kobernus led the Sens with four bases: two singles, and two swipes of second. The MLBers were a combined 0-for-5 with a walk and two strikeouts. As a team, Harrisburg went just 1-for-8 with RISP and left six runners on base.

It was a slugfest at the Muni, with the Suns putting up three crooked numbers and 16 hits total, shorting the West Virginia Power, 11-9. Brian Goodwin led the hit parade with a 2-for-4 night, including a two-run homer in the three-run sixth that tied the game at 9-9. He also gunned down a runner at third. Wirkin “For The Weekend” couldn’t hold an early 6-1 lead, giving up runs in three of his four innings pitched. Christian Meza got the win in relief while Alex Kreis pitched around two singles in the ninth to earn the save.